Shaken to the Core
by PixieDustandFairyPowers
Summary: The news of Pink Diamond's shattering leaves everyone distraught. No one could have foreseen that coming.
1. Chapter 1

**I imagine this fanfiction will only be a few chapters long. It was supposed to be a one-shot, but I think it needs a few more chapters. Anyways, enjoy!**

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It shook them to their very core. The news shook every gem on Homeworld.

Homeworld, the capital of the Diamond Authority's great empire, was a majesty to behold. Elite gems walked to and fro from spires, temples, and arenas. There was also much technology, constantly being advanced by peridots and other scientist gems. The armies of Homeworld were nothing short of terrifying, with their many types of soldiers, such as quartzes, rubies, and topazes. Planet after planet, they stopped at nothing to claim more territory, making new gems to serve the Diamonds. Until now.

A rebellion had started on one of their colonies, Earth. A Rose Quartz had managed to gather her own army, full of gems who did not like serving under Homeworld. This war had raged on for hundreds of years, and the Diamonds had a hard time putting the Rebellion to an end. All of them had personally gone to Earth to help their newest member, Pink Diamond, in the hopes that the gems in their courts could stop the rebels and continue working on the Earth colony in peace. Their efforts, however, were of no avail, and the war raged on.

Yellow Diamond had been busy. Often, she was stressed out, and visibly irritated when some random Ruby or other gem tried directly contacting her for some insignificant reason. Did they not know how much work it was to manage several colonies and plan invasions? She had no time for such nonsense, like the lights on their ships being unable to change color.

At least her Pearl was of some comfort and help. Today, however, Yellow Diamond was particularly anxious. She paced around her base for so long that Pearl could almost see her mistress' heels leaving dents in the floor. "My Diamond," her Pearl had asked, "What makes you so troubled?"

Yellow sighed and sat back down in her chair, looking at her holographic files. "Pearl, there is so much to do. So much business to attend to, that only I can handle. And yet I worry for Pink. The war has lasted for so long. I don't know if I can keep up with trying to send more troops to Earth. Many come back poofed, cracked, and some of my best never even made it back."

Pearl wondered if she should say something. She didn't really know what advice she could give, as most of her work involved assisting Yellow Diamond with smaller, trivial tasks that needed to get done so that her Diamond could focus on the important business. No, it was probably best not to speak on such matters, but Pearl would always be there to listen. Sometimes Yellow just needed to speak her worries, as she often tried to suppress her emotions to get things done.

"And that Sapphire that I requested to meet with me?" continued Yellow, "She's running several hours behind schedule. I need to know the current status of the war so we can devise a plan to stop this madness once and for all. If we can't… then I have failed my duties as a leader, and to my sister. She's just so young; it's only her first colony. And a rebellion already? It's just… too much for her too handle."

"Well, I'll be sure to reprimand that sapphire for being so late," Pearl said, proudly.

"Thank you, Pearl," replied Yellow Diamond. "It's at least good to know that you'll always be loyal to me."

Pearl blushed. "Oh, stop," she said, putting her hand over her gemstone. It was so flattering to be complimented by her Diamond. It seemed that, over the years, Yellow Diamond had grown rather fond of her pearl, seeing her as a confidante and friend, rather than merely a servant. Of course Pearl was always going to be beneath her Diamond, that would never change, but being recognized for all her hard work was always worth it.

Yellow Diamond turned back to her work, trying to ease her worries. But she still couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. _"Oh, stop,"_ she thought to herself. _'I can't let my worries get in the way of my duties. I can't show weakness. I have to be their perfect, flawless, Diamond. If I can't even do that… then what would the use of my continued existence even be? I'd be nothing. I…have...to…keep…going…have…to…"_ Yellow Diamond wasn't particularly good with handling stress, despite having it all the time, but she often managed to brush it off and focus on her work. She had no time for distractions, no recreation, nothing. So, Yellow resumed signing documents, checking boxes, checking up on the statuses of her soldiers and kindergartens, and issuing orders.

She was so immersed in her work that she almost didn't even hear her Sapphire arrive. And she did so in a rather unconventional way. She burst through the doors of Yellow's base, hair frazzled and looked incredibly panicked. "My Diamond," she said, even forgetting to salute. "I come bringing terrible news!"

Pearl stood up, clearly as annoyed as her diamond. "Well, it's about time!" she angrily exclaimed. "Where were you?! Don't you know how tight our schedule is? Don't you know how much work we have to do? Yellow Diamond doesn't have all day, you know!"

"I…I…" the Sapphire whimpered.

"And on top of that," Pearl continued, "You didn't even knock, or announce your arrival in any other manner! You just waltzed in, without paying any mind to your appearance, and you even forgot to salute! How can you explain yourself!?"

"My apologies," the Sapphire said. "But with everything that's been going on back on Earth, there was no way I could get in and report to you quickly!"

Yellow Diamond sighed. She didn't really feel like punishing her Sapphire. "Just get on with your report. What visions do you have of the future?"

"None," Sapphire replied, still sweating and panicky. "I came here to report of events that have just transpired. I wasn't even there myself. Just heard it from several witnesses!"

"Witnesses? What are you talking about? What happened?" said Pearl, this time showing a little concern.

Yellow Diamond, however, was getting more annoyed. "And why weren't you, or any other Sapphire for that matter, able to foresee this?"

"Be-because this was so unexpected! So unlikely, no one could have seen this happening! There- there was- an- um…"

"JUST SPIT IT OUT ALREADY!"

"There was an ambush!" the Sapphire cried out.

"How many Crystal Gems were there?" asked Yellow Diamond.

"Rose Quartz, leader of the rebellion, was there for sure. Though some have reported that her renegade pearl was with her, as well as the permafusion known as Garnet. I cannot confirm that the latter two were there, though."

"And how many casualties?"

"Just one, my Diamond," said the Sapphire, trembling. She was even starting to sweat through her gloves. "Shattered by none other than Rose Quartz"

Yellow Diamond stood up. "SERIOUSLY! JUST ONE!? YOU SHOW UP TO MY BASE SO LATE ONLY TO REPORT ONE CASUALTY! WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM!?"

Sapphire looked down. "I… I'm so sorry, my Diamond." She buried her head in her hands and started to cry. "There was nothing I could do."

"Sapphire," said Pearl, trembling. "Who- who was it?"

Sapphire stood up, still shaken. "Pink Diamond. It was Pink Diamond."


	2. Chapter 2

Yellow Diamond stood there, paralyzed with shock. Her Pearl, too, looked incredibly traumatized. But poor Sapphire was trembling, shuddering with fear.

The Sapphire continued, "I'm so sorry… Pink Diamond… she just stopped and exited her palanquin… and the next thing her entourage knew was that she was ambushed and shattered into pieces by the leader of the Rebellion herself, Rose Quartz."

At first, Yellow was unable to feel anything. But then she became aware of a very sickening feeling inside her. If she had a stomach, it would've twisted itself into knots. Suddenly, the floodgates of all her emotions burst open. She could feel it all welling up inside her. Wrath. Anguish. Hatred towards Rose and her Rebellion. Loss. Rage. Sadness. She barely noticed her hands balling up into fists, her palms beginning to sweat, her feet scorching the floor. Yellow could even feel hot, steaming tears welling up in her eyes, but not letting them escape her, she finally spoke.

"She… she…she was shattered… and _YOU DIDN'T DO ANYTHING TO PREVENT THIS!?_ " Yellow had finally snapped.

"There was nothing to be done," Sapphire replied. "I only arrived and discovered the truth after the fact. And no one else saw this coming. No one could have."

At this point, Yellow Diamond knew that she couldn't keep her emotions bottled up any longer. She no longer had the strength nor the capacity to keep them to herself. But no, still she refused to show any kind of weakness to anyone, especially not her own subjects. So there was only one thing left to do.

" _Get out._ " Yellow muttered. " _Leave my presence at once_."

"B-b-but…" stammered Sapphire.

"That's an order! Leave at once!"

Shaking, the Sapphirecurtsied and scurried away, the pale golden curls in her long hair trailing behind her. Then the angered Diamond turned to her frightened pearl.

"That includes you too, Pearl," Yellow Diamond said, turning away, unwilling to face even her own pearl, her most loyal servant, friend, and confidante.

"M-my Diamond? Are you sure?" Pearl asked. She was still shaken up but unwilling to leave her Diamond like this.

" _ **ARE YOU DEAF!? JUST GO ALREADY BEFORE I DESTROY YOUR GEMSTONE!"**_ Yellow lashed out, face full of pure rage. Lightning coursed throughout her body and nearly struck the Pearl. Terrified, she scampered out of the room. Momentarily, Yellow paused and felt a twinge of regret for treating her Pearl like this. She almost smashed her closest confidante due to her anger.

But Pink, oh Pink. She was so young and innocent; it was only her first colony. She didn't deserve this cruel fate, to die by the hands of her own Quartz soldier. _That traitorous Quartz_. _THAT TRAITOROUS ROSE QUARTZ!_ "You'll pay for this, Rose," muttered Yellow, teeth clenched. " _ **YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS!**_ " She screamed, a cry to likes of which she had never cried before nor since. More lightning ran through Yellow's hands, and it struck the walls and windows, smashing the glass to pieces and sucking the air out of the room. Yellow didn't care; gems didn't need to breathe anyway.

" _THAT REBEL SCUM!_ " The furniture in the room was instantly smashed to pieces. Even her desk was soon no more than rubble. The news of Pink Diamond's shattering had not quite yet reached the ears of the general public, but they all felt a shudder of fear when they saw a storm brewing around Yellow Diamond's base. She was known for her incredible powers, but the gems knew that if she was destroying her own base, then something absolutely horrible must've happened, especially seeing as Yellow Diamond was known for being the most logical one.

"I-I'll make that planet pay!" mumbled Yellow. "I'll make sure that every stupid organic lifeform and every single rebel that the horrible Rose Quartz fought for will suffer! I'll destroy them all… I-I'll…" But at this point, Yellow had exhausted herself to the point where she could no longer do anything. She collapsed to the floor over her smashed desk and wept heavily. Hot, steaming tears flowed freely from her eyes, but she almost didn't care anymore. At least no one else would be able to see Yellow like this, emotionally broken, crying over a broken desk. Or so she thought…

There was a soft knock on her door. Yellow barely looked up. " _Go away_ ," she mumbled. "I cannot speak to anyone else at the moment. Take it up with someone else."

"Y-Yellow. It's you in there, isn't it?" came a soft, whimpering voice. Yellow knew it could only come from one gem, and that was Blue Diamond. She sighed; she couldn't just push her own sister away like this.

"Come in if you must," Yellow said finally, "but dismiss your Pearl."

Blue Diamond complied and came in moments later. Yellow turned to face her. Though Blue was always a little more emotional than the rest of them, but she never could have imagined that Blue could be in such a broken state, either. Blue had pulled her cloak close to her, almost limping and tried to hide her eyes. There were heavy bags under them, and her long, trailing cloak was stained with countless tears. Even now, large streams of water were still gushing out of her eyes.

"Yellow… Oh Yellow…" Blue mumbled. "Pink…they… they…" She tried to finish her sentence but she couldn't do it without bursting into tears once again, inadvertently using her emotional powers. This only caused Yellow to cry even more. She tried to hold the tears back in, but it was to no avail.

"I know." Blue sat down next to Yellow Diamond and leaned her head against her chest, to which Yellow wrapped an arm around her shoulder. Yellow wished more than ever that she could offer her sister comfort, but they both knew that there was nothing to be done. Pink was gone, and it wasn't going to be okay.

"I'm so sorry I failed you," said Yellow, turning her head away.

"What do you mean?" Blue Diamond said. "Yellow, you did everything you could. It's not your fault. It was those rebels… that _Rose Quartz_." Her voice became very bitter when she mentioned Rose, but was still tinged with sorrow.

"You don't get it, do you?" Yellow said, finally standing up. "It was only her first colony, and I'm the expert in military operations. I should have sent more troops down there… Pink was too inexperienced to understand war. And look at me now," she said, turning to face Blue. "I'm supposed to be the strong one, you and Pink and everyone else looks up to me for strength and guidance. But…" she said, tears welling up in her eyes, "I couldn't even do that. I… I broke down before you got here."

Blue stood up and placed a hand on Yellow's shoulder. "Yellow… don't do this to yourself. Don't shut yourself away like this. You're not the only one who lost a sister today."

Yellow sighed, she knew Blue was right. Suddenly, Blue found herself being wrapped in a tight embrace. "I'm so sorry," Yellow said, choking back sobs. "I don't know what to do. They haven't even reported seeing Rose since the attack."

"I know," Blue replied. Though there was nothing to be done about the Rebellion, Blue resolved to do one thing: to make sure that she would never forget the precious memory of her only little sister. She would continue whatever legacy that Pink had managed to start.

But Yellow wanted something else: nothing but revenge. Revenge for what the Rebellion had done. The entire destruction of the Earth. She would not let this wrong go unpunished- no, Pink had to be brought to justice somehow, whether it was in 5 days or 5,000 years.

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 **Just so you know, the Sapphire is yellow, not blue. Also, Yellow Diamond doesn't hate her Pearl or anything like that. She actually warned her to leave because she was getting angry and didn't want to hurt her.**

 **There will probably be one more chapter. And reviews are greatly appreciated.**


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